


An Act of Free Will

by followbutterfly



Category: Tenet (2020)
Genre: Feelings Realization, Flirting, Fluff, Gap Filler, I thought it was fluff from the protagonist's POV, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:46:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 986
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26160601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/followbutterfly/pseuds/followbutterfly
Summary: It’s more than that and you can’t understand,he retorted, trying to defuse the sensual tension lingering in the atmosphere. His legs were shaking a little for no reason, well, not entirely no reasons, since he could sense something from the man sitting beside him.Is this flirting?I have a master degree in Physics, his partner said,or perhaps you can teach me?The younger man quirked his eyebrows. His smile broadened into a grin and he was swirling his tongue.So, that’s it.He mentally sighed,he is definitely flirting with me.
Relationships: Neil/The Protagonist (Tenet)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 212





	An Act of Free Will

_You know too much,_ he said.

The younger man’s eyes were gleaming, almost playful. His lips were parting as he was about to say something.

_About time traveling?_ The tone was lighthearted, almost teasing. The younger man sat in a sofa, legs spread wide and arms were loosely hanging on the armrests. He was in the most relaxed position since the operations.

_It’s more than that and you can’t understand_ , he retorted, trying to defuse the sensual tension lingering in the atmosphere. His legs were shaking a little for no reasons, well, not entirely no reasons, since he could sense something from the man sitting beside him. _Is this flirting?_

_I have a master degree in Physics_ , his partner said, _or perhaps you can teach me?_

The younger man quirked his eyebrows. His smile broadened into a grin and he was swirling his tongue.

_So, that’s it._ He mentally sighed, _he is definitely flirting with me._

If he had been honest with himself, he might have known this incident would happen. The man was attentively showing his interest since they first met. He had sat beside him, smiling and casually guessing his drinking menu as if they were on the date, not anything as a life and death mission that was about to happen in half an hour. To get any worse, The younger man slightly minded their boundaries as he kept touching his arms or his torso. It was not _entirely_ welcome, as they had to check the ropes before jumping up to the high rise. He tried not to think too hard about it and dismissed the gestures as fast as they left India.

Against all odds, the ghost of his touches still lingered. Sometimes at night, it kept tingling on his skin and made him whimper.

This is madness, he thought while sweating in his palms. He would shake these awkward feelings out of the system and ditch the younger man to move on for another mission.

He had promised himself to do it, but under the fetal circumstances, he needed his partner.

They arrived at Oslo Airport together. Neil acted as his point man. He had arranged the airplane and had some valid connection with _an associate_ , Mahir, and they headed to the free port together.

After retrieving the painting, it was hard to deny the elephant in the room. They witnessed the time inversion in flesh and blood, even fought for those who came from the future. Neil had jokingly said they must have drunk too much wine on the plane but his face told another story. His eyes were begging him for the disclosure, and somehow clearly not just about the secret time inversion operation.

He laid out the truth to Neil, most of it. The younger man was so focused on every word. His eyes were staring at him the whole time of the briefing.

They stayed in the big suite in the hotel, but he felt suffocated. Since when they were so closed, sitting only a mere foot away from each other as though they feared someone would be eavesdropping, yet knew damn well they were in a solitary comfort space.

Speaking of comfort, he still couldn’t stop sweating. He had been on the hundreds of missions, but the moment the younger man asked him with a concern, _are you okay? You don’t look well_ , and moved so close and reached out to touch his arm. He had lost it.

His brain froze just in time their lips met. It was only pecking on the lips and his body resisted it in time so he promptly retreated. He felt like a mortified teenager in a form of a professional CIA agent. Suddenly he didn’t know what to do with his limps and his suit became a heater. He wanted to be anywhere but here.

But it was Neil who grabbed his neck and his tie to pull him back for another kiss, deeper and hungrier, as though this was a mission that he had put a lot of effort and calculation, but also fiercely and passionately.

Suddenly his thought reeled back to the time when he asked Barbara, _if those bullets come from the future, then what about free will?_ Right at the moment he felt elevated, floating above the streams of time, whether it was forward or backward, coming so close to something called a brief moment of time-stopping.

Maybe this was a free will that Barbara couldn’t find out. _When you kiss finally someone you have been secretly pining on, it is an act out of free will._

Embarrassingly, he erased those mawkish thoughts, and reluctantly pulled back from Neil just to let the other man breathe. 

He expected Neil to look smug as his attention was met with the satisfying result (with him blushing and stuttering) instead, the look on his face was strange. His eyes were not bright but replaced by the teary ones, wavered by some unspoken feelings. If he was not in hallucination, he would say the other was _longing_ for him even the kisses happened the couple minutes ago.

Then the aching was replaced by the surprise. Neil was looking at him, eyes wide.

“I never thought you would dare,” Neil was reluctantly smiling again. Both hands were still on his suit, clutching his tie as if he was afraid to let go.

“You don’t know me that well to make the assumption,” he lightly snapped at his partner, meaning to be dismissed as a tease, but Neil was gripping him more tightly.

“Of course, I do know you,” the younger man voice was hoarse but firm.

He was little startled by the seriousness, and also very tempted to kiss the burrows on the other’s face away.

“The prove it,” he looked at Neil’s eyes, unwavering.

Neil didn’t say anything back, but pulled his hair and diving into more than kisses.


End file.
